Helen was born in the small German village of Kathreinfeld located in what is modern day Serbia. (Current name is Ravni Topolovac.) She was the second born child out of seven born to Peter Birong and Anna Hettrich.
In 1911, two years after her father had brought her sister,Margaretha to the U.S. he brought Helen over. They were the only two of the siblings to make the journey to America.
In 1920, Helen married John Sellinger. They had three children together, Elizabeth, Evelyn and John Christopher. They can be found on the 1930 Census living in the Bronx in New York city.
John was an abusive husband and one night, he and Helen got into a huge fight at a local bar. They were asked to take it outside where a kind stranger would intervene and be killed by John. Helen "lost her mind" and is found in the 1940 census committed to an insane asylum. During her commitment she would contract T.B. and end up being transferred to a hospital for treatment. She would spend the rest of her life as a ward of the state and be transferred from one place to another. Her family would lose track of her and would only know of her death after her passing when her great niece, Lori Beckett Zukerman, would go looking for her while doing genealogical research.
FSFTID
FSFTID L69F-28S
Fact: Immigration (1910)
Fact: Residence (1 June 1925) New York, Bronx, New York, United States
Fact: Residence (1930) Bronx (Districts 501-750), Bronx, New York, United States
Fact: Residence (1 Apr 1940) Islip, Suffolk, New York, United States
Sources
"United States Index to Alien Case Files, 1940-2003," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QK8J-6TGQ : 28 July 2015), Helen Sellinger, 1911; citing Immigration, Alien Registration Number 4510397, "Index to Alien Case Files at the National Archives at Kansas City, ca. 1975 - 2012," NAID 5821836, Records of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2003 - 2004, RG 566, National Archives at Kansas City.
"New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/247P-HHZ : 20 March 2015), John Sollinger and Helen Birong, 18 Mar 1920; citing Marriage, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, New York City Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 1,643,831.
Name John Sollinger
Event Type Marriage
Event Date 18 Mar 1920
Event Place Manhattan, New York, New York, United States
Event Place (Original) Manhattan, New York
Gender Male
Age 27
Marital Status Single
Race White
Birth Year (Estimated) 1893
Birthplace Hungary
Father's Name John
Mother's Name Eliz Wesser
Spouse's Name Helen Birong
Spouse's Gender Female
Spouse's Age 23
Spouse's Marital Status Single
Spouse's Race White
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated) 1897
Spouse's Birthplace Hungary
Spouse's Father's Name Peter
Spouse's Mother's Name Anna Hettrich
"New York State Census, 1925," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KSM6-W5P : 8 November 2014), Helen Sellinger, New York, A.D. 01, E.D. 35, Bronx, New York, United States; records extracted by Ancestry and images digitized by FamilySearch; citing p. 22, line 07, New York State Archives, Albany.
"United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X7DL-QJQ : accessed 8 July 2017), Helen Sellinger in household of John Sellinger, Bronx (Districts 501-750), Bronx, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 749, sheet 4B, line 88, family 89, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1472; FHL microfilm 2,341,207.
John Sellinger Head Male 38 Austria
Helen Sellinger Wife Female 33 Austria
Elizabeth Sellinger Daughter Female 7 New York
Eleven Sellinger Daughter Female 4 New York
John Sellinger Son Male 1 New York
"United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JKLM-96J : 20 May 2014), Helen Sellinger, 02 May 1995; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
Second hand knowledge of Lori Beckett Zukerman (as told to her by her mother, Margaret Weiss Beckett).
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Helen by comparing test results with other carriers of her mitochondrial DNA.
However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line.
It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Helen: